"DOUBLE-STANDARDS" FUEL WORRIES

    While many blame the DPRK and Iran for frustrating international efforts on nuclear non-proliferation, the double-standards adopted by some Western countries on nuclear issues could also be said to add to the problem, for their stance has undermined the authority of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

    In September, the annual conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) blocked a motion by some 20 countries -- including 15 Arab nations -- to call on Israel to give up its ambition of possessing nuclear weapons, and become a signatory to the NPT.

    Many Arabs believe that in the Middle East region, Israel is the only country possessing nuclear weapons, but Israel has neither admitted nor denied it so far.

    Such a stance was not in line with the international drive to free the Middle East of nuclear weapons, said Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa.

    The double standards are manifested in another case -- India, acountry which has detonated nuclear bombs but refused to sign the NPT. U.S.President George W. Bush agreed in March 2006 on a nuclear civil cooperation deal under which New Delhi is allowed to buy foreign nuclear technology for the first time in 30 years.

    These double standards would inevitably diminish the NPT's authority among countries that have not acquired nuclear weapons.

    The worries are, apart from the existing nuclear powers, some 30 countries have also acquired relatively advanced nuclear technologies. They have the capacity needed to develop nuclear weapons once free from the rein of the international non-proliferation mechanisms.